A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t3.161

v2.c19.s6.t3.161

The composition of the work is, in fact, very confused and disconnected. There is no sign of any principle of arrangement. The language and style, too, are by no means unified. Most of the legends are written in good, simple Sanskrit prose, only interrupted here and there by Gāthās. In a few of the pieces, however, we also find the metres of ornate poetry and the genuine Kāvya style with its long compound words.² The compiler thus seems to have simply taken over the passages literally out of other texts. As a matter of fact, almost all the stories in the Divyāvadāna have been traced to other works. In addition to the Mūla-Sarvāstivāda-Vinaya, the compiler of the Divyāvadāna also made use of a "Book of King Aśoka,"³ of the Saṃyuktāgama (which is known by the Chinese translation Tsa A-han King), and of Kumāralāta's Kalpanāmaṇḍitikā.⁴ It stands to reason that, when the Divyāvadāna was compiled in this fashion, the various parts of the work belong to different periods. There are some passages which must certainly have been written prior to the 3rd century A.D. However, the collection as a whole, could not have been in existence earlier than the 4th century A.D.; for, not only are Aśoka's successors, the kings of the Śuṅga dynasty down to Puṣyamitra (about 178 B.C.) mentioned in this work, but the dīnāra occurs several times, and this brings us at least to the first century A.D. and probably nearer to 400 A.D.¹ and lastly, some time must have elapsed after Kumāralāta, who lived a considerable time after Kaniṣka,² for a compiler to make such extensive use of his Kalpanāmaṇḍitikā.